IWC Unique Saint Exupéry Goes on Sale for Charity 'Children in Need'

06 october 2006

On 12 October 2006, Christie's New York will be auctioning a watch of which there is just one single piece: the Pilot's Watch Chrono- Automatic Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry in platinum. Swiss watchmakers IWC Schaffhausen will be donating the proceeds from the sale of this unique timepiece to Vol de Nuit/Vuelo Nocturno, a humanitarian association that looks after the interests of disadvantaged children in Argentina.

Christie's watch auction at the Rockefeller Center in New York features a rarity that will be of immense interest to watch lovers and admirers of pilot, writer, and poet Antoine de Saint Exupéry. The unique timepiece, manufactured by IWC Schaffhausen, will be offered for sale together with two extremely rare and highly prized original documents by the author. The Pilot's Watch is accompanied by a 1936 French edition of the novel 'Vol de Nuit' (Night Flight) featuring a hand-written dedication by the author as well as an original page from the manuscript 'Toi ma liberté', likewise in Saint Exupéry's own hand, which has been dated around 1942. IWC, which has specialized in professional pilot's watches since the mid-1930s, dedicated a limited-edition pilot's watch to the French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint Exupéry. His moving novel 'Vol de Nuit', published 75 years ago, was a literary memento to the beginning of airmail in South America. Alluding to the year of its publication, IWC's Pilot's Watch Chrono- Automatic Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry is limited to 1931 pieces. Only one of these is not destined for conventional retail sale: the most valuable of them all, made of platinum. This particular model will come under the hammer at Christie's on 12 October 2006.


Proceeds to go to children in need
Argentina, his wife Consuelo's home country, French poet and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry was not only in charge of the Aeroposta Argentina airmail company in Buenos Aires. It was there too that he wrote one of his most successful works, 'Vol de Nuit', the gripping tale of an airmail pilot locked in an ultimately tragic struggle with a tempestuous storm. It is no coincidence that Saint Exupéry's greatnephew, Frédéric d'Agay, established a humanitarian project in the same country in 2003. In the early years of the new millennium, Argentina was beset by an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions that plunged vast sections of the population into misery. The children supported by the Vol de Nuit/Vuelo Nocturno Association are in desperate need of everything: food, clothing, school materials and the hope of a real future. The humanitarian organization acts as a partner to schools, homes and other establishments for children on the streets in Buenos Aires and the outlying districts. The Foundation will use the entire proceeds from the IWC watch auction to finance some of its more urgent products. 'These disadvantaged children will receive an education, learn a vocation and be able to make a responsible contribution towards the future of Argentina,' is how the Foundation's President Frédéric d'Agay summa-rizes his objectives. 'Our help is intended to protect children against the curses of criminality, begging and neglect.'


The watch of the pilot and poet
Since 1936, Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen has released a continuous stream of professional pilot's watches that have helped to preserve the romanticism of flying. Now, in the limited Pilot's Watch Chrono-Automatic Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry, it pays homage to the great pilot and poet. The timepiece comes in the new-sized 42-mm case with stop function and aggregate timing up to 12 hours, a power reserve of 44 hours when fully wound and the classical soft iron inner case that provides protection against magnetic fields of up to 24,000 A/m. Water-resistant to 60 metres with day and date displays, it also features a convex sapphire glass antireflective on both sides, a screw-in crown and a tobacco-coloured dial never featured before in an IWC pilot's watch. The two silver-plated subdials for the minute and hour counters are significantly larger than the small seconds display. The hour counter itself features the flowing letter 'A' from Antoine de Saint Exupéry's signature. The back of the case features an engraving of the writer's portrait based on the famous shot by LIFE photographer John Philipps, which shows Saint Exupéry in his flying suit at the Borgo airbase on the island of Corsica. It was taken just a few days before the flight that ended in his death on 31 July 1944. The only watch in this special platinum edition bears the number 01/01. IWC boss Georges Kern, who makes it his business to appeal to corporate socialresponsibility, is looking forward to an exciting auction at Christie's. 'The individual who emerges from the auction as the owner of the watch will have two reasons for being particularly happy. Not only will he have secured a unique piece of watchmaking at its best but also have done a lot to reduce human suffering.'


IWC Schaffhausen
For well over a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been manufacturing highly complex precision timepieces that combine functionality with outstanding user-friendliness for watch lovers who seek more than just the correct time. Founded in 1868, the International Watch Company has established an international reputation as a traditional Swiss watchmaker with a passion for inventiveness, innovative solutions and technological sophistication. Around 450 employees at company headquarters in Schaffhausen together with a further 150 who represent IWC across the globe work together to uphold the company's credo: "At home in Schaffhausen, successful throughout the world".

IWC Website